It’s nearly impossible to spend a lot of time with a Hungarian and not hear about famous Hungarian inventions. In the same way Hungarians are known to claim that pretty much everyone famous or important has some kind of Hungarian background. But there are some famous people you might be surprised to know are actually Hungarian. Here are some of the most surprising, but of course there are many others.
Film and entertainment & Music
Rachel Weisz an Academy Award winning actress; and world-famous Hollywood stars Drew Barrymore, Goldie Hawn, Joaquin Phoenix who have Hungarian heritage on their mother’s side. Actor Adrien Brody is also of Hungarian descent on his mother’s side. Peter Falk best known for his role in the Columbo TV series. Jerry Seinfeld American comedian, actor and writer is the descendent of a Hungarian Jewish family. Freddie Prinze Jr actor and comedian of Puerto Rican and Hungarian Jewish descent. Tara Reid also has Hungarian ancestry. Of course world-famous composers Zoltán Kodály, Franz Liszt, Béla Bartók, Ferenc Lehár and Ferenc Erkel are widely known to be Hungarian, but did you know that there are Hungarians across many other genres? For example, Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers is Hungarian; Paul Simon a Grammy Award winning guitarist has Hungarian parents; Alanis Morissette has a Hungarian mum. Kesha’s grandmother is Hungarian. Of course behind the iconic facepaint Gene Simmons from KISS is also Hungarian.
Rubik’s Cube – there are a mind-boggling 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 (forty-three quintillion) permutations and yet research has proved that all cubes can be solved within 26 moves
Other areas
Ernő Rubik was the one who came up with the world’s best-known toy or puzzle– the Magic Cube or Rubik’s Cube. László József Bíró invented the ballpoint pen the most popular tool for everyday writing. József Galamb designed the world’s first affordable car, the Ford Model T. János Irinyi was the mastermind behind safety matches. Ferenc Puskás was the captain of the formidable Hungarian soccer team of the 1950s and one of the brightest lights to grace a soccer field. Calvin Klein was born in The Bronx to Jewish-Hungarian immigrants.